INTRODUCTION

We were able to celebrate a big win on our production side shortly before the pandemic hit last spring. Our Bemidji division was awarded a new federal contract at the end of 2019 to powder coat, assemble, and fulfill orders on folding metal padded and standard chairs.

PROJECT BEGINNINGS

This chair project was a year in the making. Ongoing research into additional revenue streams to fill additional capacity and floor space in the Bemidji production building uncovered a unique opportunity to add a new product line. Expansion potential would be easy to integrate into current capabilities, with all signs indicating it was a no-brainer for ODC.

Contract negotiations took place over the course of 2019, and were finalized around Christmas. Happy holidays for the production team, but the celebration was brief as there was much work to be done. The new year would bring not only the normal challenges of adapting processes and training employees on a new production line, but an unpredictable new world of supply chain interruptions and staffing issues brought on by a global pandemic.

PRODUCTION PROCESS

Contract orders started delivering in March 2020. Our manufacturing partner, Virco, is a leading U.S.manufacturer of office and school furniture. ODC is proud to be supporting American manufacturing through this partnership. These folding metal chairs, historically best sellers for GSA, were off the market for over a year before our contract was finalized. We were looking forward to serving customers once again with the quality product they had come to expect from years previous.

What does our production process look like? Our cycle begins with loading the raw steel chairs supplied by Virco onto racks for easy maneuvering across the production floor. Each rack holds 16 chairs. The chairs are then washed to remove oils that prevent rusting during transport. Once dry, each rack of chairs is then powder coated.

While all of this is going on, we have a team making pads for our padded chair orders. Customer favorites, these chairs feature a seat pad and a padded back rest. Pad components include the wood board base (supplied by local business Northwest Cabinets), foam for support, and a gray upholstery vinyl carefully matched to the gray coating of the chair. Using pneumatic presses, the pad layers are assembled then compressed to staple the vinyl to the base to contain the foam that shapes the pad. They are then trimmed and set aside for final assembly.

After the coating process, the chairs are unloaded in the assembly area where they are assembled and packaged for shipment. If they are padded, the pads are added at this time, in addition to plugging and capping the legs. Final packaged product contains four chairs per pack, with single packs available to fill out order numbers. These chairs are soon shipped worldwide to government and military bases, consulates, schools, vessels and other federal buildings.